[kevmarks]

Got my 147 Ti the other week. The dealer put the car through the MOT for me and it needed two new front tyres. The dealer did this for me. I thought 'Great new tyres on the front'. Picked the car up and noticed they were WanLi which I had been warned against having in the past.

After a quick internet search I found some pretty bad reviews on motoring web sites as well as threads on motoring forums slating them.

I have two new Wanli's on the front and two other nearly new budgets on the back.
Is it worth replacing these tyres with a premium tyres? It's going to cost £400 - £500 for some premium tyres but I worry about the wanli's specially with winter coming. But it seems a shame to get rid of four nearly new tyres.

Any advice would be welcome. Will it be worth spending the cash on premium rubber?

 

[aziraphale]

pretty sure the dealer should have advised you of this, and offered you an option of which tyre to use....but in any case, i wouldn't use them.

 

[Monkey Dust]

Depends on how you drive, if you like to go fast I'd ditch them. Your tyres are the only thing keeping you out of the hedge/ditch/barrier/etc...

 

[David C]

pretty sure the dealer should have advised you of this, and offered you an option of which tyre to use

Probably not.
It sounds like a pre-sale MOT so they will have got the cheapest option.

 

[robobass]

Don't know this brand, but I always buy used from my local guy. I've got Dunlop SP Sport on the front and Pirelli P7 rear for which I paid €30 each mounted and balanced. Why buy new?

 

[Sooty Si]

I've not had Wanlis, but something similar, LingLongs IIRC, cheap & cheerful Chinese crap. When I bought my previous car, I told the dealer it would need new front tyres, and he typically went for the cheapest option. They're fairly hard wearing and will probably last forever, or until you slide off the road in the wet, more plastic than rubber if you get my drift. Come to think of it, they'd probably be quite good for drifting...

 

[kevmarks]

Don't know this brand, but I always buy used from my local guy. I've got Dunlop SP Sport on the front and Pirelli P7 rear for which I paid €30 each mounted and balanced. Why buy new?

Thanks for the replys guys. I think i will ditch them. Not considered part worns. I remember my driving instructor told me never to touch them. Im about to go to gran canaria on sat so i have some time to make my mind up but 30 euro a corner sounds good to me.

 

[robobass]

I think that tyres are something with which brand does matter. Here in Germany they are marketing "Goodride". Who are they kidding? Although even some of the major brands do sell junk on the low end. I bought a car once which had "Eagle ST" tyres, two of which blew out within six months. I would never buy that brand after that experience (wouldn't anyway), but I've never gone wrong with Dunlop or Pirelli. And, I have quite a heavy foot, even in the rain!

 

[symon]

I had Wanlis on the back of my last GTV when I bought it.

They are shockingly bad, and I am suprised that it is legal to sell them to be honest. It shouldn't be possible to spin a GTV at 20mph but I very nearly managed it.


You don't have to spend a fortune for good tyres, take a look at some Toyo's, Falkens, Uniroyals, Firestones etc...

 

[David C]

I had Wanlis on the back of my last GTV when I bought it.

They are shockingly bad, and I am surprised that it is legal to sell them to be honest. It shouldn't be possible to spin a GTV at 20mph but I very nearly managed it.

An extreme example of why a matching set is always best!
I'm not saying they are ok, but if you had an equal lack of grip at the front it wouldn't have been tail-happy...!!

 

[Roswell]

Swap them for a set of Falken FK452s from Camskill. You won't get better for the price.

 

[sparepart]

I would leave them on for the winter and change them in the summer. Give the car PLENTY of welly before suddenly letting the clutch out in first.

 

[Alfafamily]

Too many people read car forums and take the opinions of totally unqualified people as gospel truth. Why not try the tyres for yourself and form your own opinion.It might just save you £400 or so. I'm in exactly the same position myself. My car was fitted with 4 brand new Chinese tyres called Yellowsea. After 4 months I have no issues with them whatsoever and believe me I didn't buy a V6 GTV to pootle around like a man of my age should.

.........Now awaiting post saying I'm going to kill myself finding out they were no good after all.....

 

[satanism]

you are going to kill yourself finding out they are no good after all!!!

by the way....seriously...your life depends on 4 pieces of rubber and you'd trust it on a small yellow man working for 2USD a month?!

 

[Alfafamily]

you are going to kill yourself finding out they are no good after all!!!

by the way....seriously...your life depends on 4 pieces of rubber and you'd trust it on a small yellow man working for 2USD a month?!

Baa Baaa......Yes is the answer.

 

[satanism]

you surely are a brave man...

by the way I once had a very very...very near miss in the dartford tunnel, i bet there were less than 10 inches between me and the next car...the whole pack stopped from 50 to 0 in a flash and I'm sure if I had not fairly good discs, fairly good pads and my brand new reasonably good tyres I would have ended in the back of the white van in front of me....

 

[alfafanatic100]

I was watching a clip a few months back regarding cheap tyres from asia on american vehicles, and after seeing the end results ie a few fatalities i would pay the extra just for peace of mind.
A cheap tyre will take longer to halt in an emergency stop, common knowledge i'd have thought.

 

[symon]

An extreme example of why a matching set is always best!
I'm not saying they are ok, but if you had an equal lack of grip at the front it wouldn't have been tail-happy...!!

:lol:

The front ones were Event tyres own brand and they were nearly down to the limit. The wanlis were like new.


It is wrong to say all Chinese tyres are bad though, plus some European tyres are just as bad. I have driven cars with Tigar, Sava and Debica tyres and they are equally as awful. (Sava and Debica are owned by Goodyear, Tigar is tied up with Pirelli)

If the big brands made cheap tyres that gripped as well as the expensive ones, then no one would buy the expensive ones.

 

[Alfafamily]

@ satanism......It's not brave at all. In fact brave is not a word I would ever use to describe myself.
It's about being able to drive the car within it's capabilties and according to traffic conditions. I've explored the car to reasonable limits that I don't want to exceed and found the chinese tyres fitted to it acceptable. If someone else needs better tyres to find their own limits then that is up them. All I'm saying is that I won't condemn a product just because a group of anonymous people on car forums tell me I must.
By the way it's not so long ago that tyres from former Eastern bloc countries were the worst possible quality. They quickly found that the market wouldn't put up with total rubbish and changed their ways.
The market place for all products is is filled with Chinese goods and we are all happy to buy them. Why should their tyres labelled as rubbish by people who have never tried them.

Don't you worry about me my mate. I've got this far, I'll be fine.

 

[symon]

Autocar Tyre Test Budget Tyre Performance | the online tyre guide

The Nankangs don't really come out too badly to be honest.